The Canadian Business Journal spoke with John La Fond, President, Ned Dye, Board Chairman and previous President (’97-’11), and Arie Verloop, Vice-President of Business Development. La Fond said, “From its beginning, Jansen has focused on creative problem solving through technical expertise, flexible approaches, and teaming relationships with our clients.

“We have an outstanding reputation in the pulp and paper industry and we are developing excellent references with waste-to-energy providers and independent power producers.”

Having built a reputation for quality projects in North America, Jansen has emerged as a global player in boiler evaluations and retrofit projects, serving clients in France, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, China, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Honduras, Australia, and New Zealand.

Project Portfolio

Currently, Jansen is involved in a pulp and paper mill project in the Southern United States. The project calls for upgraded combustion air systems on two chemical recovery boilers. Using pulping residues as fuel, the chemical recovery boilers generate steam that ultimately produces process heat and electricity, and recycles the chemicals used in the pulping process.

The boiler upgrades will result in an eight per cent capacity increase, as well as a reduction in nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide emissions. Dye commented, “The design relies heavily on our advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling to evaluate emissions performance.”

In the Midwest, Jansen has upgraded two power plant boilers to convert from 60/40 biomass/stoker coal firing to 100 per cent biomass firing. New combustion air delivery systems, tubular air heaters, and economizers were part of the upgrades.

“Emerging environmental regulations make coal burning more and more challenging, while economic incentives are becoming available for burning biomass as a renewable energy source. We expect to see increased interest in these types of projects in the future,” Verloop said.

At a power plant along the Atlantic seaboard, Jansen provided the engineering, design and equipment in a project that included installing upgraded fuel and air delivery systems for four refuse derived fuel boilers. The upgraded systems allow the boilers to meet lower emission targets, while also increasing plant power generation and waste fuel burning capacity. The upgrades have allowed the 30-year-old plant to begin operating at full capacity for the first time.

Team Effort

These projects represent just a small sample of the hundreds of boilers Jansen has evaluated over its history, with over 100 boilers upgraded and retrofitted.

As a small- to medium-sized company, Jansen attributes much of its success to its experienced and dedicated staff. Even through the recent economic recession, the company recognized the importance of keeping its team together.

“All capital spending came to a screeching halt in 2009; it was one of our slowest years in our history,” Dye explained. “Throughout this time, we did not lay off a single person. Everyone accepted reductions in pay in order to keep the team together.

“It takes several years to gain the knowledge required to provide the quality of service that we are known for, and we did not want to lose our ability to respond when the economy turned around. By keeping the team intact, we were able to successfully complete a number of large projects and have had two of the best years in our history since the downturn.”

Future Initiatives

Moving forward, the plan at Jansen is to continue the growth that the company has experienced in recent years. That means the company will explore diversifying its technical services, not only across the industries currently served, but also to expand its international customer base.

Jansen looks forward to the opportunities and challenges that come with its future growth. Verloop added, “We expect more work in the waste-to-energy industry and with independent power producers, and in locations such as Central and South America, China, and Eastern Europe.”

Through its history, Jansen has worked with the mindset, ‘a customer’s problem is our problem’. As La Fond concluded, “We are careful to focus on our strengths and leverage our technical expertise. We have gained the trust of our customers by looking out for their best interests and by offering cost-effective solutions.”